diff --git a/src/or/circuitstats.c b/src/or/circuitstats.c
index 625083c9b8..73e34d9ed7 100644
--- a/src/or/circuitstats.c
+++ b/src/or/circuitstats.c
@@ -183,16 +183,6 @@ circuit_build_times_quantile_cutoff(void)
   return num/100.0;
 }
 
-/* DOCDOC circuit_build_times_get_bw_scale */
-int
-circuit_build_times_get_bw_scale(networkstatus_t *ns)
-{
-  return networkstatus_get_param(ns, "bwweightscale",
-                                 BW_WEIGHT_SCALE,
-                                 BW_MIN_WEIGHT_SCALE,
-                                 BW_MAX_WEIGHT_SCALE);
-}
-
 /**
  * Retrieve and bounds-check the cbtclosequantile consensus paramter.
  *
diff --git a/src/or/networkstatus.c b/src/or/networkstatus.c
index b45d402ba7..71ac054f88 100644
--- a/src/or/networkstatus.c
+++ b/src/or/networkstatus.c
@@ -2239,6 +2239,21 @@ networkstatus_get_param(const networkstatus_t *ns, const char *param_name,
                                  default_val, min_val, max_val);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Retrieve the consensus parameter that governs the
+ * fixed-point precision of our network balancing 'bandwidth-weights'
+ * (which are themselves integer consensus values). We divide them
+ * by this value and ensure they never exceed this value.
+ */
+int
+networkstatus_get_weight_scale_param(networkstatus_t *ns)
+{
+  return networkstatus_get_param(ns, "bwweightscale",
+                                 BW_WEIGHT_SCALE,
+                                 BW_MIN_WEIGHT_SCALE,
+                                 BW_MAX_WEIGHT_SCALE);
+}
+
 /** Return the value of a integer bw weight parameter from the networkstatus
  * <b>ns</b> whose name is <b>weight_name</b>.  If <b>ns</b> is NULL, try
  * loading the latest consensus ourselves. Return <b>default_val</b> if no
@@ -2255,7 +2270,7 @@ networkstatus_get_bw_weight(networkstatus_t *ns, const char *weight_name,
   if (!ns || !ns->weight_params)
     return default_val;
 
-  max = circuit_build_times_get_bw_scale(ns);
+  max = networkstatus_get_weight_scale_param(ns);
   param = get_net_param_from_list(ns->weight_params, weight_name,
                                   default_val, -1,
                                   BW_MAX_WEIGHT_SCALE);
diff --git a/src/or/networkstatus.h b/src/or/networkstatus.h
index d6d6a036cd..b437c5ec2f 100644
--- a/src/or/networkstatus.h
+++ b/src/or/networkstatus.h
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ int networkstatus_parse_flavor_name(const char *flavname);
 void document_signature_free(document_signature_t *sig);
 document_signature_t *document_signature_dup(const document_signature_t *sig);
 void networkstatus_free_all(void);
+int networkstatus_get_weight_scale_param(networkstatus_t *ns);
 
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/or/routerlist.c b/src/or/routerlist.c
index 3034f91f02..8f19947600 100644
--- a/src/or/routerlist.c
+++ b/src/or/routerlist.c
@@ -1734,7 +1734,7 @@ compute_weighted_bandwidths(const smartlist_t *sl,
     return -1;
   }
 
-  weight_scale = circuit_build_times_get_bw_scale(NULL);
+  weight_scale = networkstatus_get_weight_scale_param(NULL);
 
   if (rule == WEIGHT_FOR_GUARD) {
     Wg = networkstatus_get_bw_weight(NULL, "Wgg", -1);
diff --git a/src/or/routerparse.c b/src/or/routerparse.c
index eaf015c0bc..2a3de12c35 100644
--- a/src/or/routerparse.c
+++ b/src/or/routerparse.c
@@ -2255,7 +2255,7 @@ networkstatus_verify_bw_weights(networkstatus_t *ns)
   const char *casename = NULL;
   int valid = 1;
 
-  weight_scale = circuit_build_times_get_bw_scale(ns);
+  weight_scale = networkstatus_get_weight_scale_param(ns);
   Wgg = networkstatus_get_bw_weight(ns, "Wgg", -1);
   Wgm = networkstatus_get_bw_weight(ns, "Wgm", -1);
   Wgd = networkstatus_get_bw_weight(ns, "Wgd", -1);